Oregon City Orcas are in championship form

The area swimmers hold their own in high level competition

The athletes on the Oregon City Swim Club (The OCSC Orcas) had their share of success in championship competitions held over the summer.

The championship season began on July 15, with the Long Course Senior Sectionals in Gresham. Teams from Colorado west, including California and Nevada, took part in the event.

Robin Pinger led a host of outstanding performances turned in by the eight OCSC athletes competing at the Senior Sectionals, blowing away the field with a five-second PR of 2:35.86 in the girls 200 breast stroke. Her time set a new team record for the event.

Lainey Visscher was also outstanding, setting a team record of 2:19.99 in the 200 backstroke. The effort placed her 14th in the field.

The girls 200 medley relay team of Laura Laderoute (backstroke), Robin Pinger (breast stroke), Visscher (butterfly) and Sidney Pinger (freestyle) closed out the first day of regionals in impressive fashion, placing fifth in a time that was just short of Oregons state record for the event.

On the second day of Senior Sectionals, Oregon City teams placed 15th in the girls 200 freestyle relay and 19th in the boys 200 freestyle.

Day three saw Robin Pinger place fifth in the girls 100 breast stroke (1:14.09), Lainey Visscher place sixth in the girls 100 backstroke  in a team record time of 1:04.10, and Brian Frazier place 16th in the boys 100 breast stroke  in a team record time of 1:06.97.

And on the final day, Oregon Citys medley relay team finished 11th.

Oregon 12-and-Under

Long Course Championships

Oregon Citys younger swimmers made some waves July 19-20 when they traveled to Bend for the 12-and-Unders Oregon Long Course Championships.

OCSCs 10-and-under boys relay team of Conner James, Quinlan Gould, Lucas Gornick and Artyom Kaydalin turned a few heads on the first day when they swam the 200 freestyle relay in 2:34.09, good for sixth place.

Maggie Metcalf placed fifth in the 100 butterfly and 14th in the 50 backstroke; Quinlan Gould placed seventh in the 9-and-under 50 breast stroke and 14th in the 50 backstroke; James placed 11th in the 10-and-under 100 butterfly; Gornick placed eighth in the 10-and-under 50 breast stroke; Kaydalin placed 16th in the 10-and-under 50 backstroke; and Scotty Visscher placed 15th in the 12-and-under 100 butterfly and 200 individual medley.

Oregon Citys 10-and-under boys relay team continued on track in the 200 medley relay on the second day of the championships, clocking 2:56.26 and placing fifth.

Scotty Visscher had a big second day, dropping his 50 butterfly time by an unheard of 3.7 seconds to finish second overall in 32.09, a team record by nearly a second. He also placed 12th in the 100 breast stroke and 12th in the 50 freestyle.

Kaydalin had PRs and placed 13th in the 200 freestyle, 100 breast stroke and 50 freestyle.

Metcalf placed 10th in the 50 butterfly and 11th in the 100 backstroke; Quinlan Gould placed 11th in the 100 backstroke and 16th in the 50 butterfly; and Emma Gould placed 14th in the 12-and-under girls 50 butterfly.

Oregon Long Course

Championships

The Orcas made some noise at the Oregon Long Course Championships, held July 26-27 in Gresham.

Laura Laderoute was a state champion in the girls 15-and-under 100 backstroke, where she outclassed the field with a 1:06.11 clocking.

Brian Frazier earned runner-up honors in the 15-and-over boys 100 breast stroke, breaking the OCSC team record a second time with an effort of 1:06.59.

Kate Laderoute earned second place in the 13-and-under girls 100 butterfly, with a personal best of 1:09.60; and she placed second in the 400-individual medley in 5:19.50. The longer medley race was new to her this season.

Kate also placed fourth in the 13-and-under 100 individual medley (2:33.87) and sixth in the 200 butterfly.

Jackie James placed eighth in the 14-year-olds 200 backstroke (2:43.79); Parker Kilstrom placed seventh in the 15-and-over mens 200 butterfly and 15th in the 200 freestyle  in a four-second PR of 2:05.85.

Junior Nationals

Lainey Visscher and Robin Pinger went on to Junior Nationals, where they competed with the top 18-and-under swimmers in the nation.

Pinger placed 58th in the 100 breast stroke and 73rd in the 200 breast stroke.

Visscher broke team records in every event she swam, competing in the 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke. She placed 25th in the 200 backstroke in 2:18.25, falling just short of the bonus final.

Kate Laderoute went on to represent Oregon in the Western Zone Championships, competing with the best swimmers in the state. Oregon placed fifth out of 18 teams.